Pretend (36 page)

             
"No, I had a great night, and I’m feeling much better now," I said as I threw him a smile.

             
"Me too.
I had a great night I mean," he said as he kept his eyes on the road.

             
After that we didn't talk until we got back to the Crystal's which wasn't very far from the diner.

             
"Ok, so here we are," Jake said as he pulled up outside of the house.

             
"Thanks," I said as I unclipped my seatbelt.

             
"So, I had a good night tonight," he said as he began to stare at me.

             
"Yeah me too, it was nice. Glad we didn't go bowling," I said as we both giggled, quietly.

             
"Maybe we can do it again sometime?" He asked in a gentle voice.

             
How could I say no? H
e was so sweet. I felt awful.

             
"Yeah, sure," I said.

             
"Cool," he said as we both went silent again.

             
"So," he said, breaking the silence.

             
"Can I kiss you?" He asked in the sweetest voice ever.

             
What the hell was I supposed to say? No, sorry I would rather be kissing your friend to be honest.
I had never been asked to be kissed before. Not by Kyle and certainly not by Aiden. I had a great night and I had just told Aiden that we couldn't do this but I knew that kissing Jake would never be the same as kissing Aiden, would it?

             
I'm not sure what kind of expression was on my face but it must have been the kind that said yes because before I k
new it Jake was about an inch away
from my lips.

             
Suddenly my phone vibrated
,
which startled both of us.

             
"Sorry," I said as I silently thanked my phone for saving me.

             
I looked down at the screen and read the name...

             
Aiden.

AIDEN’S POINT OF VIEW

             
"
Yo
, dude, what took you so long?" Anthony asked as I walked out of the restroom.

             
April and Jake were gone and I was greeted by an eager looking
Trixy
, great.

             
"Sorry I was just-"

             
"Never mind, let's go
and
get some drinks before we head to Murphy's. Anybody want a drink?" Anthony said.

             
"Yeah, a coke please,"
Trixy
and Kelly both sang in unison.

             
"
We going
to Murphy's?" I asked as we approached the counter.

             
"Yeah,
Trix
and
Kel
have got a couple more friends joining us there," he said with a smile on his face.

             
"Great," I replied.
 

             
I wasn't really interested
in any of them. A
ll I could think about was April. She had kissed me an
d ran off, again.
I just couldn't understand her. She had no ide
a how crazy she was making me feel
. Before I started to even feel a thing for April, life was sweet, hooking up with chicks and being a guy but now my game was totally off. I hadn't hooked up with anyone since just before Crystal's party, it was insane.

             
"
Yo
dude, you got to sort it out you know," Anthony said, quietly.

             
"What?" I asked in a confused tone.

             
"Dude, I know you like the back of my hand. This thing with you and April, you need to sort it out and quick," he said looking me dead in the eyes.

             
"And before you ask
,
yes I know, how do I know
, b
ecause I'm your best friend and I know you and her well enough to know that something’s going down," he said.

             
"Is it that obvious?"

             
"I'm afraid so."

             
"I don't know what to do man," I said in a confused tone.

             
"Look,
that's up to you but I can tell you a few things. One
,
she's Crystal's best friend and this is bound to ruin their friendship
if anything goes wrong
, two
,
Jake's your bro man and even a blind man can see that he's into her and three she
ain’t
just any chick this is April, she’s special man, we always said that we wouldn’t let anyone mess around with hers or Crystal’s heart. A lot of people stand to get hurt so whatever you do just make sure that it's the right choice," he said as he patted me on the back.

             
That's what I liked about Anthony, he didn't beat around the bush,
he
was straight to the point.

             
"Thanks dude," I said as I smiled at him.

             
"No problem," he said before turning to the man behind the counter to order some drinks.

             
I had no idea what was going on anymore with me and April but I knew one thing, Anthony was right, a lot of people did stand to get hurt. April said the same thing and maybe it was time that I started to listen.

             
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I scrolled to April's name and began
to type
a text.

             
Sorry that I was such a jerk tonight. Don't go to sleep yet, I
             
really need to talk to you.

AIDEN’S POINT OF VIEW

I’m still with Jake, I have to be honest with him, can't do this anymore. Talk later.
x

             
I didn't know what she was going to say to Jake but either way
,  I
knew what I needed to talk to her about tonight.

             
"So, you guys ready?" Murphy asked as I took the last sip of my drink.
 

             
Anthony's conversation had been playing on my mind, I knew he was right, people were going to get hurt and it wasn't fair. That however, did not stop thoughts of April creeping into my mind every two minutes.

             
Was it selfish of me to still want her? I don't know but I still did.
Maybe it was time that I stopped being selfish, I really did need to talk to her about everything
though
.

             
"Yeah, we're good
,
let's go," Anthony said as he winked at a rather excited looking Murphy.

             
"
Yo
dude you ok? You look kind of phased out man," Taise said as he stood over me.

             
"Yeah, I'm good, let's go," I lied.

             
"Is it kind of dumb that I'm nervous?" He asked.

             
"Nah, we all get nervous, you just need to chill out and be yourself. Girls like that," I replied.

             
"Yeah they like you guys but I just can't seem to get it right man," he said.

             
"Just don't think about it, you'll know when it's working," I said as I patted his back.

             
"
Yo
, come on man, enough with the girly talk, let's go have some fun," Anthony said
as he threw his arms around our
shoulders and led us to the car.

             
He was
right,
I did need to have some fun.

             
I was so happy when I saw that Kelly had her own set of wheels and that
Trixy
would be riding with her. This girl was more work than Cayce
or more work than she pretended to be anyway
.

             
"Hey, I forgot to tell you something," I said quietly to Anthony as he sat in the passenger seat, next to me.

             
"Uh, huh, what's that?"

             
"Cayce, she likes you," I said as a smile filled my face.

             
"Cayce?
That hot chick that was all over you before?" He said excitedly.
 

             
"That's the one," I replied.

             
"But I thought
that
you and
her
were, you know?"

             
I quickly scanned my rear view mirror to see what Taise and Murphy were doing. When I saw that they were deep in conversation, I continued.

             
"Turns out that we were both trying to make someone else jealous," I whispered.

             
"Wait, you're telling me that a chick was dating you to try and make me jealous?" He said in shock.

             
"Yup," I said as a smirk filled my face.

             
"Sweet, s
o you're ok with that?" He asked.

             
"Yeah dude
,
she's not my type, not quite sure how me and her hooked up in the first place
to be honest
," I said as I pulled up at a red light.

             
"Dude
,
those words are like a lullaby to my ears!
Mmmm
she was hot! I'm talking
seriously
hot, the things I would do-"

             
Suddenly he stopped as he realised the expression on my face and then we both burst out laughing. It was the car that was beeping behind me, that let me know that the lights had changed.

             
"So
,
what you two love birds whispering about?" Taise said as he messed up Anthony's hair.

             
"Bro,
you must want my fist in your throat," Anthony said as he tried to grab Taise through the gap between our chairs.

             
"
Yo
, you two are going to get us killed man," I said as we all began laughing.

             
From what I could see, Anthony already had Taise in a headlock, much to the amusement of Murphy.

             
"Say it again!" Anthony shouted through fits of laughter.

             
"No way man!"
Taise shouted.

             
"
Ohhhhh
, dude that has got to hurt," Murphy said as he let out a huge laugh.

             
"I can do this all day T," Anthony said.

             
"Hey Ant, you better be c
areful
,
you know
that
he hasn't used that yet," Murphy said as we all burst out laughing again.